Take Me With You
by Yusagi
Summary: For Want of a Nail AU fic: On that fateful night, what if Sasuke chose to bring Sakura along after all? What will change for the good and for the ill, how will it affect Sasuke to keep one last bond close to him, how will Konoha react to the sudden disappearance of two nin, and most important of all: how will Sasuke and Orochimaru's darkness affect Sakura, when there's no one else?
1. Chapter 1

**\- Chapter One -**

_I swear to you_

_Every day, we'll be happy…_

She never really liked the dark.

A ninja should be more comfortable in the darkness than the light (a rule later adjusted to 'as comfortable'), darkness was a shinobi's friend, and naturally a ninja like herself should seek it out when possible. She should like the darkness.

She never really had. She still didn't.

The light of a single candle wasn't enough to brighten the cramped and tiny room she'd trapped herself in. Shandows danced and flickered across the room like they might conquer the orange-red glow of the candlelight if she ever took her attention off of it and let down her guard. Considering where she was, she didn't think it was an unreasonable thought.

"Stop worrying so much…" Her whisper echoed off of the far wall of the cell, bounding back at her almost on top of her words. There wasn't room enough to delay any longer than that. "It's only going to be a little while…"

She'd only be there for a little while. That was why she came with him. He took her with him, and that meant…as long as she had a little time…she could convince him to come home after all, once he calmed down, once he saw that Orochimaru wasn't the only or the best way.

They'd go home soon.

"Aren't you ever disgusted with how pathetic you are?" That girl, Tayuya. She'd opened the door without Sakura hearing her, and now stood in the doorway, silhouetted in the brighter light of the hallway.

Sakura squinted up from where she sat on her cot, looking at the girl in confusion. Usually she only showed to bring her food. Others of the Sound Four did sometimes, too, but it was usually the same: people came to her to bring her food. It didn't make any sense why Tayuya's hands were empty this time.

"Ugh, you're just gonna sit there and gawk until I say something, huh? Lame as ever." Tayuya planted a hand on her hip and the reflections of light on the sides of her face suggested she scowled. "Well, _come on_. If you don't get up and come out here I'm just gonna drag you out myself."

"Come out…? Why?" She didn't really leave the cell. She felt more like a hostage than she did Sasuke's associate since she'd come to the base. It didn't seem like the kind of place they would worry about cleaning…

Tayuya groaned in annoyance, and started into the room, until Sakura slid off of the bed. Her legs cramped and protested their lack of use since the hectic flight through Konoha's forests, but it was better to stand on her own than wait and see what Tayuya would do. She wasn't scare of fighting the other girl…not really…but in the end she'd just be outside anyway. She'd figured that much out about her just running after the Sound Four (five, apparently, but she'd never met the fifth) in the forests.

Annoyance flickered in eyes that reflected dim candlelight, but Sakura didn't really care. She'd dealt with enough people like Tayuya before, even if Tayuya was stronger than her…that didn't mean she was intimidated.

The light didn't seem that much brighter than her room once she was in the hall, but at least there was room. Doors stretched off into the darkness on either side of the wall she'd come from, and torches propped on the opposing wall between every two. She wondered how anyone kept track of where they were, if everywhere in the base looked like the places she'd seen so far.

The red-haired girl appeared at her side after only a moment, heavy door slamming behind her, as she pointed down the left path. "Come on, it's this way." Tayuya started off in that direction, before shouting at her. "Hey! Hurry it up! I don't got all day to wait around on you shuffling everywhere. Man, you're really annoying, you know that?"

She glanced down at her hands briefly.

_Annoying…_

_You really are…_

She started after Tayuya just as she heard the other girl growl in exasperation. It wasn't like she _wouldn't _follow her, anyway. The cell was closed in and boring and she could only tell time by the number of meals she ate and the number of candles that burned away.

"I don't even get why he'd want to see someone like you, anyway." The girl squinted at her, skeptical. "I mean, can you even do ninjutsu, or are you just some kind of tag along pet?"

Before she could think about whether she should or shouldn't, she glared at the mouthiest member of the creepy 'team' who'd led Sasuke away, and snapped back just as loudly. "Of _course_ I'm a ninja!"

Tayuya gave an unpleasant sounding laugh. "Guess it's no wonder why Lord Sasuke couldn't find anyone who advanced his skill in that crappy village of yours then."

"Don't talk about Konoha like you know it!"

Dark eyes turned toward her, brow knit with suspicion. "You sound pretty loyal to a village you betrayed."

She glanced away from the other woman briefly, so briefly it might have looked like a flinch to the other girl. Maybe it was one. It wasn't betraying the village…she didn't betray Konoha…the Hokage would understand. When she came home with Sasuke, she'd explain everything then. She was only looking out for her comrade. That's what being a shinobi was about, never abandoning her comrades, even if it meant breaking the rules, they were supposed to stick together and save each other, right?

She clenched her fist, the one furthest from Tayuya, and jerked her head away, tossed her hair with a huff. "I don't need to be loyal for you to be an _idiot_. Only an idiot would think that Kakashi-sensei and the Lady Hokage were _weak_."

"Hey, you watch your mouth, girl! If anyone's an idiot it's _you_, for trailing after Lord Sasuke like a puppy!"

She found herself glaring at the girl again before she realized it, hands clenched at her sides in retaliation. "Yeah? If I'm a puppy what's that make _you_, calling him '_Lord Sasuke_' all the time!"

"_What's that supposed to mean?!_"

"Ladies." Kabuto. She knew that voice. The one who'd turned on them, who'd helped kill so many people in Konoha, and who'd tried to kill Naruto when he'd gone to retrieve the new Hokage. She remembered it from when he'd pretended to be their friend, and from when she and Sasuke had made it to the hideout.

His voice was very loud, to sound so calm. "I'm sure that Lord Orochimaru gave you something to do other than fight with one of our newest guests, Tayuya."

The redhead hissed at the taller ninja. "You don't get to tell me what to _do_, _Kabuto_."

Despite the defiance in her voice, something about her posture backed down anyway, and she looked away from the pale haired man. "I'm taking her to see Lord Sasuke, don't get in my way."

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Kabuto sounded thoughtful, as he turned a cold gaze on her. "I guess it's about time then."

Time? What _time_? To see Sasuke? She supposed…but why did it sound so ominous if that was all? The way Sasuke had been, she expected seeing him would be Sasuke's decisions, or ways she could find a way to make her see him, not them agreeing to let her see hm.

She didn't like that idea very much. Not if it had to do with Orochimaru…

Before she could say anything, Kabuto smiled, but none of it approached his eyes. "Well then, you two shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Well I won't!" Tayuya huffed, and grabbed Sakura's arm, starting ahead at a quick marching pace that had Sakura lurching forward and scrambling to keep up without being dragged.

In the distance she heard Kabuto's voice drifting up the hall in feigned concern. "You should try not to manhandle her so much!"

Tayuya's steel grip on her arm only tightened. Sakura couldn't say that was a surprise at all. "_Buzz of_f_!_"

She tugged roughly at her own arm in an attempt to get free, but that did nothing but almost wrench her shoulder out of joint. She hissed through her wincing anyway. "Let go—I'll follow after you anyway, _hey_—!"

"Shut up, you're way too slow!" Tayuya looked back at her with an anger that seemed laced with a killer intent Sakura had never seen from the other girl before. The difference…stunned her a little, distracted her away from struggling for her freedom and ended up with her dragged for a few steps instead of keeping up with the insistent girl. "It's because of _you_ that Lord Orochimaru didn't have the time to—"

"If you're going to gossip instead of being polite as I _told _you to be…I hope it's nothing about me, Tayuya."

She didn't read Tayuya's expression, when the new voice cut into the silence of the hall. When the cold voice slipped into her thoughts, it severed everything else she'd been thinking about. The temperature of the air around her skin dropped slightly, and around her, the room darkened in an almost perceptible way.

The casual, terrible deadliness in his voice, the subtle suggestion of a hiss in words that lacked one, she knew that voice even better than that of Kabuto. She'd know it anywhere, immediately. Alongside his words, his voice brought sudden dread and almost paralyzing fear.

Orochimaru.

_Take me with you._


	2. Chapter 2

**\- Chapter Two -**

There were a lot of things a shinobi should and shouldn't be. She'd memorized all of the shinobi rules, could recite them off one by one by heart before she'd even graduated. When she'd graduated, she'd actually thought that she'd be able to follow them all as well, if she really wanted to.

But then, a shinobi should never allow themselves to experience fear when they were in danger. They should suppress all emotion, all weakness, including fear, and never allow their enemies to know they felt threatened. She managed to follow none of those rules.

She didn't turn to look at the voice, but she didn't need to. She was dimly aware of the direction he must have approached from both because of where his voice had come from, and from what she registered of the direction Tayuya looked. Even that was shortly unnecessary, however, as the tall, legendary specter of death shortly slipped into view himself, moving with a silence and grace that almost made her believe he simply phased into existence at his whim, rather than moving from some other place to obstruct her passage by something as mundane as feet and legs.

Those sorts of thoughts were absurd, however, a product of unreasonable (reasonable) terror, and having been trapped in the cell they'd called her 'room' for however long she had been without any true or lasting human contact. Then again, maybe they were just the sorts of things that people thought when they faced the deadliest of the sannin, even when bloodlust wasn't radiating off of him with such palpable force that she thought it possible it could rearrange reality on its own.

Yet, despite her instincts screaming for her to flee in any direction, regardless of the true direction of the exit, so long as it was further from the promise of certain death that his proximity presented…she'd already trapped herself. Another rule of the shinobi violated: willingly becoming a hostage for the enemy, even if the reason she'd done it was to protect Sasuke.

No matter what she liked to tell herself before the terrible Chuunin Exams…she wasn't a very good kunoichi at all.

She heard Tayuya speak, but not what she said. It was short enough that it probably wasn't important, anyway. It must not have been, because the tall figure never turned his eery golden eyes away from _her _to his underling instead. The silent inspection made her feel sick.

His expression curled into something that, on someone more human, less innately predatory and monstrous, would be an indulgent smile. Certainly it bore the same shape, it was still recognizable enough for her to register it as such, but…somehow it _felt _far more dangerous and cold on him. "The two of you are so early that the tea isn't finished yet…but that's no reason you can't go in and see Sasuke _now_."

He gestured off to the right, which she realized was the direction he'd appeared from. He must have been in the room with Sasuke up until that point. Did that mean whatever time she'd have with Sasuke would be directly overseen by Orochimaru? It was…believable, considering his interest in manipulating Sasuke, but…she didn't like the idea of him hovering nearby whenever she spoke to Sasuke at all.

With all the things he must have to do though…surely it wouldn't be every time…?

She registered after a moment that she still hadn't moved, and that he still stood there, expression expectant. She didn't choose to dwell on the sort of reaction he'd have if she tested whatever patience he had with her lack of response (or Tayuya's: hers was an obvious reaction), But…it was difficult. The normal method of walking to the door would require her to turn her back on him to do so (as well as Tayuya, but her threat was so much less than the other in the hallway with them that she didn't currently register). Although she knew if he decided to kill her right then, with no allies around (save for Sasuke in another room) and no place for her to run or hide, it didn't matter if she were looking at him or not when he did it…it didn't make it any easier for her to turn her back on such a great danger.

She didn't think slinking to the door sideways would engender a bey good reaction either. And…a kunoichi wasn't supposed to react that way. She knew she failed to measure up to many things, but if she had any hope of doing what she'd determined she would then she needed to be brave. It was so much easier to talk about being brave than it was to turn her back to Orochimaru.

A weak coward who only cried and hid…couldn't do anything.

Her skin crawled, turning away from the tall, imposing figure. The side of her that faced the deadly sannin felt slightly cooler than the one that faced the door where Sasuke was. But…that…was just her imagination, wasn't it?

The first step took supreme determination. Every step from there she worked to convince herself wasn't _running away_. It wasn't. If she were running anywhere, it was only _to _Sasuke, and she'd been doing that for awhile.

She barely even felt it when she reached out to open the door.

The room wasn't any brighter than the rest of the base, lit by less candles than such a space required, and as windowless as everywhere else she'd seen inside the building. As promised, though, Sasuke sat at the small table inside it, an expression of something approximating impatient boredom.

It felt brighter in the room than anywhere else she'd seen since leaving Konoha.

Her smile felt ragged around the edges. He didn't move, but his expression darkened, and she thought it might have been in concern. Her arms and hands didn't tremble physically, but they still felt shaky from standing so close—from turning and walking away from—Orochimaru. She wanted to say that she felt safer in the room now that Sasuke was there, but 'safer' was far from 'safe'.

She walked over and sat across from him because he was already sitting and she didn't see why not to sit as well. At least in the chair her side would be to the door, and the part of her that was paranoid could keep an eye on it while she talked to Sasuke.

He didn't speak first, and she didn't really expect him to.

She summoned more strength to her smile in the face of his silent impassiveness. "…You pick up fans everywhere you go."

He blinked, expression forming faint surprise and confusion. Apparently he hadn't expected that sort of an opening statement. "…What?"

Her cheeks darkened slightly and she ducked her head. _Really_, the first thing she could think to talk about after sitting alone in a room however long it'd been…was that _girl_?

"I mean…those four who were at the village for you. They…really seem to respect you already."

He huffed, almost a scoff but without the effort required to make it one. "They do anything Orochimaru tells them to do. It's not like they have any opinions of their own."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. Maybe it was true…Sasuke must have seen them more than her, but that wasn't the impression she'd gotten from Tayuya. Then again…she couldn't know what Orochimaru would order of people. "I guess that's so…"

He frowned, watching her for a few moments more in silence, before he spoke. "…You're eating?"

She managed not to look surprised or smile.

…That was a lie. She did smile a little bit. "…Yeah. It's not the kind of thing I'd call 'food', though." She wrinkled her nose. Whoever cooked wasn't very good at it. Or just didn't care. It was probably at least a little bit the second thing.

But….it was nice to know he cared enough to ask. Even if she wasn't pathetic enough to say that. Just barely, at least.

"You're…" She didn't know what to ask. 'Getting stronger'? Learning? What would he have accomplished in this time? "Since getting here do you deal with them a lot?"

She wondered if she was just avoiding the subject of Orochimaru at all, like talking about him could summon him from the hall.

He shook his head slightly. "I'm not here to deal with _them_."

"They called you their leader, didn't they?"

"It doesn't matter what they say. The only thing that matters is what Orochimaru can teach me, and how quickly he can do it."

She didn't flinch when he mentioned Orochimaru directly…but the door opened as soon as he finished speaking. "The tea's ready~!"


End file.
